JEFF TIEDEMAN: Terrific trio

Have you ever listened to a person describe a recipe that makes your mouth water and know that you just have to try it?

I did the other day, when Pete Hougum of Grand Forks shared a recipe that contained three of my favorite foods -- pork chops, cabbage and apples. Pete said he combined the trio with potatoes in a slow cooker, and the result mighty tasty, even though his 3-year-old grandson, Landon, wasn't quite thrilled with the smell.

I made up my mind to make the concoction even before leaving Altru Fitness Center -- the site of my daily workout -- since we had three pork chops in the freezer that needed to be used as well as fresh cabbage from my garden and some apples that another friend, Henry, Tweten of East Grand Forks, recently gave me.

On my way home, I started to think about ways that might make the dish even better and decided on adding a quart of sauerkraut, some diced onion and a can of cream of mushroom with roasted garlic soup.

My cooking instincts were right on -- the results were nothing less than delicious.

I shouldn't have had any doubts about the outcome, since pork and cabbage are a classic combination, as are pork and apples. So putting the three together, you get something really delightful (See recipe at www.grandforksherald.com/event/tag/group/Life/tag/food/ .)

This combination has a lot going for it. According to Altru Nutrition Therapy dietitians, both cabbage and apples -- whether raw or cooked -- have cholesterol-lowering properties, making the heart-healthy.

Among other things:

-- Cabbage is inexpensive, nutritious and an excellent source of antioxidants and vitamins K and C and has been touted for its potential cancer-fighting properties, along with other vegetables in the cruciferous family, such as broccoli and kale.Cabbage also a source of fiber, manganese, folate, vitamin B6, and potassium.

-- A medium-sized apple with the peel on supplies a person with about 4 grams of dietary fiber -- and just 80 calories -- about 15 percent of the amount advised for daily adults. Apples, especially their peels, are loaded with the powerful antioxidant quercetin, which may reduce the growth and spread of cancer cells.

Any concerns about pork should be dismissed, too, since it is an "excellent" source of thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, vitamin B-6, phosphorus and protein and a "good" source of zinc and potassium.

And today's pork has 16 percent less fat (27 percent less saturated) as compared to 1991. In fact, many cuts are now as lean as skinless chicken.

This all sounds to me like a recipe for some good low-fat fall or winter dishes.

Tiedeman is food editor at the Herald. Reach him at (701) 780-1136 or toll-free at (800) 477-6572, or e-mail at jtiedeman@gfherald.com .